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It’s almost Thanksgiving, a time where we reflect on what we’re thankful for in America. I have a quick question for you.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of what it means to be an American? For me, it’s complex. Honestly, the only time I truly think about distinctly being American is when I’m in another country. I’ve traveled to Rwanda and China, and both of those times I was super aware of my privilege as an American.
In America, I have to attach the “Black” part of my identity. It naturally comes with it because that’s the way I see the world and how the world sees me. In 2020, following the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, LAist produced an essay in a series that explored race and/or ethnicity called Race In LA. The essays were crowdsourced and written mostly by LAist readers.
For some of the essayists, one of the themes that emerged from that series was this issue of being “American enough” to those who were viewing them from the outside, just because of the color of their skin or the accent of their voice, regardless of how long they and their family had lived in this country. So now my colleague Leslie Berestein Rojas, LAist’s Immigrant Communities Correspondent, is leading a new series called “Being American”.
For her, it’s growing up in Huntington Park, which has been a port of entry for immigrants for generations, especially families like hers that come from Latin American countries. Now, she’s on a mission to talk to others about what or who is American, especially after the last few tumultuous few years where we saw surges in racism against Black, Asian and Latino communities — both in our city and nationwide.
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“Being American” is a series that’s all about YOU and your stories about living in this melting pot called Los Angeles. Leslie talks about it with How to LA host Brian De Los Santos. Listen here.
The first essay in the series comes from Jose Cabrera. He writes about his experience playing on a ragtag team of working-class Latino kids in Maywood, California. Read about his experience here.
Do you have a great Angeleno American story in this city shaped by immigrants? If so, please share with us. You might be able to get featured in a future newsletter.
As always, stay happy and healthy, folks. There’s more news below — just keep reading.
(After You Stop Hitting Snooze)
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‘Tis the season when it feels like everyone is running to every Ralphs, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s in the city to get all the turkeys. It is madness.
But just because you and I celebrate this very American (and quite problematic!) holiday, doesn’t mean everyone in LA does. Gab Chabrán, our Associate Editor of Food and Culture, has a poignant story to tell about why his family has always opted out of Thanksgiving. It starts with his father Rafael Chabrán who is professor emeritus at Whittier College. For one, his father has difficult memories of growing up poor and on welfare and not being able to afford a meal on Thanksgiving.
It was a painful and uncertain time for my father, grandmother, and his three younger siblings, whom my father helped look after. He recalls receiving food from Thanksgiving canned food drives where large baskets of discarded or damaged food had been dented, or were missing labels, would show up at their house. He recalled when they were given a can of whale meat.
As Gab’s father grew older, he had a political awakening as he wrestled with the origins of the holiday and what he calls the “Thanksgiving myth”. But he and his family still enjoyed sharing meals together so they made their own traditions. For Gab, it sometimes involved curries or dim sum. Read about his family’s journey here.
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